Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 17 December, 2013 -- Competition at the 2013 Rip Curl GromSearch, presented by POSCA kicked off at Coolum on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast today, with shifting 1.5m waves on offer for some of the best junior surfers in the country.

Day one of the four day series began with the blue-ribbon 16 and Under (16’s) Boys division with current Australian Junior Champion, Monty Tait (Maroubra, NSW) placing a close second to Blaine Robinson (Palm Beach, QLD).

The POSCA wave of the day however went to Casuarina local, Blair Mandall who managed to hunt down a sizeable left-hander and rattle off several critical backhand turns in his opening round heat.

Coolum’s Isabella Nichols continued the same winning form she displayed during her recent Australian Junior Title win today in the girls 16 and Under division, winning her opening round heat convincingly with a combined-wave total of 14.50 (out of a possible 20 points).

Local knowledge continued to play a key role well into the afternoon with local girls Laura Poncini (Moffat Beach, QLD) and Sophie McCulloch (Alexandra Headland, QLD) both posting convincing wins over their visiting counterparts.

In between the slashing and carving turns out in the water, frothing grommets from all over the country managed to pocket themselves plenty of gear from Rip Curl and POSCA with plenty of games and giveaways on the beach throughout the day.
Most notable was Jan Juc’s Xavier Huxtable with a win in the first POSCA expression of the four day event. With the win, Huxtable put his fellow 12 and Under competitors on notice and made it clear that he will be a force to be reckoned with in the main event.

Four days of competition will allow over 150 entries to have a shot at the title in the respective age divisions of 16 and under (16s), 14 and under (14s) and 12 and under (12s). On beach activities, giveaways and the daily POSCA Expression Session encourage participants to have a good time with their friends in the lead-up to Christmas holidays whilst they compete.

This year’s National Champion will be decided late next week in Coolum and will follow in the footsteps of previous greats and gain an invitation to represent Australia at the International Rip Curl GromSearch finals, to be held early next year in an as yet undisclosed location.

The Rip Curl GromSearch, presented by POSCA will be held at the best waves available along the coastlines between Caloundra and Coolum

Please check event hotline (07) 3030 6388 for updates on location posted early on the morning of the event.